Turkey’s geopolitical role in the Middle East has been growing over the past decade. This course will investigate how the Turkish news media – broadcast and print – cover domestic and international events and the dynamics of interaction between the news media and the Turkish government. This is particularly interesting given the professional challenges facing the Turkish media, the low levels of professionalism and ethics in Turkish journalism and the lack of respect for editorial freedom and journalistic independence. Turkey, which has a democratic political system, has one of the highest numbers of imprisoned journalists, and the use of social media, particularly YouTube and Twitter, is subject to severe governmental scrutiny.

During the spring semester, students in this course will study issues such as the relationship between the Turkish press and political parties, the framing of terrorism, minorities, anti-government protests and corruption in the Turkish media, and the regulation of public and private media. Students will also look into how the Turkish media cover news about the United States. Class activities will help enhance the students’ background knowledge of the media-government relationship in Turkey and will prepare them for the on-site activities.
Traveling to “The Crossroads of Europe and Asia” in May 2016, faculty and students may visit various newspapers, television stations, the Turkish news agency, and the Television Supreme Council in Istanbul. These visits will include meeting with the media outlets’ senior editors and reporters, and touring the newsrooms. Visits to Turkish non-governmental organizations will shed some light on how they are covered in Turkish media. Other activities such as cultural excursions around Istanbul will also be included.

This course may be most appropriate for students interested in global media, international studies, political science, communication, and the Middle East.

The academic course associated with this program is INTS/COMM 398/399 – Turkish news scene: Dynamics of Government-Media Relationship for 4 total credits. INTS/COMM 398 is 1 credit, 399 is 3 credits. It will be taught by Dr. Mohammed el-Nawawy.

This is an OPEN program.

Prep course meets in the SPRING with travel in MAY.

*Itinerary and planned activities subject to change.*